The Comments Begged Me to Believe He Loved Me, His Actions Had Already Convinced Me Otherwise Chapter 01

The Comments Begged Me to Believe He Loved Me, His Actions Had Already Convinced Me Otherwise Chapter 01

Silas Thorne, my boyfriend, called me a useless idiot at the reunion — in front of everyone. Afterward, my best friend Stella Brooks finally said what she’d probably spent years biting back.

“Everyone we grew up with thinks Silas can’t stand you. So why are you still clinging to him?”

Wait. Was that really how everyone saw us?

The comments flooded in before I could process it.

[Don’t listen to them, girl! He’s a classic tsundere — says the opposite of what he means. That man is OBSESSED with you!]

[He’s going to regret it the second he loses her. He wants to apologize so badly, but his pride won’t let him, so he just sits outside her door sulking like a kicked puppy. I can’t with him.]

Stella wasn’t done.

“He paints portraits for Chloe — a coworker he’s known for a few months. He knows her coffee order by heart. He even keeps a stash of ibuprofen and her favorite tampons in his studio just for her.”

“And you? You drove all over town in the pouring rain to buy his brushes, got one detail wrong, and this is what you get?”

I stopped reading.

It finally hit me. Silas didn’t love me.

***

I went home.

His eyes were bloodshot. He hurled the paintbrush straight at my face, his voice cracking between fury and something almost wounded.

“Are you blind? You can’t tell a long handle from a short one? Seriously, what are you even good for?”

“You’re useless, Elena. Completely useless.”

The brush clipped my forehead. Blood welled along the scrape, warm and fast, and when I touched it, my whole hand came away red.

Silas froze. He let out a harsh breath — looked away — then spun around and started tearing through the medicine cabinet.

Something foolish in my chest fluttered as I watched him rush.

[Okay, I’m SOBBING. He’s literally dying inside rn. The genius who shook the entire art world turns into a complete mess over this girl?? I ship them so hard.]

[RIGHT?? He was SO mad, and then the SECOND she started bleeding he just crumbled — this man is the cutest thing alive.]

Then a phone rang, and the moment shattered.

Chloe Mercer’s name was on the screen. Silas dropped the medicine box like it burned him and grabbed his paint case instead.

“Hey — don’t worry. I’m bringing the paints now.”

“You’ll have everything you need by tomorrow. I promise.”

On his way out, he nudged a leftover bowl of instant cup noodles toward me. “Eat. Go to bed. Don’t wait up.”

I stared down at it. No telling how long it had been sitting there.

The noodles had congealed into a bloated, sticky lump. A few sad shreds of dehydrated carrot from the seasoning packet clung to the surface — the only color in the bowl.

I’d spent the entire afternoon running across town to a specialty art store without stopping to eat. I was starving. But looking at that bowl, I couldn’t make myself pick up the fork.

“I’m not hungry. Just go.”

His jaw tightened. His voice spiked with irritation.

“Oh, so now YOU’RE the victim? Are you five, Elena? When are you ever going to stop being such a goddamn headache?”

[I’m so done with this FL and her victim complex. She makes a huge deal out of everything. What, she expects him to drop his whole life and coddle her?]

[For real. She can’t even get her priorities straight. At least he puts up with her attitude — honestly, I would’ve lost it way sooner.]

I tuned the comments out.

I stood at the window and watched Silas button his coat as he jogged down the steps. I watched his silhouette shrink as he hurried down the street, eventually disappearing into the shadows.

Behind me, the half-finished painting still sat on the easel.

It used to be me in that portrait. But Chloe’s birthday was coming up, so Silas had painted over my face and started painting hers.

The cut on my forehead throbbed.

I didn’t bother with the medicine. Blood kept trickling until it blurred my vision. I reached for the brush — the one I’d gone through hell to buy.

I snapped it in half.